In 1982 a gentle picture book by Raymond Briggs about a boy’s nighttime adventure with his snowman was brought to life to become a beloved 80s animated classic: the Snowman. This wordless animation introduced a new classic Christmas tune Walking in the Air to the world. When the special aired in the UK it originally had an introduction by Briggs himself speaking about his own boyhood Christmas but in subsequent airings had alternative openers including one with David Bowie, which is the one which aired in the US. For the film’s 20th anniversary DVD release yet another, animated opener was recorded. Here is the original special with the Raymond Briggs operning as it was intended to be viewed: The Snowman courtesy xBeps

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1984, released 1985) is the 2nd animated film be produced in 3D (the first on record being Abra Cadabra 1983). The soundtrack by Andrew Belling calls to mind the great space operas of the 70s. Ironically, some considered Starchaser to be a blatant Star Ward ripoff. Courtesy dislexsicknik

We’re going to do a little reminiscing about the great movie songs of the 80s. I’m not talking about Take My Breath Away (Top Gun) or Oh Yeah (Ferris Beuller’s Day Off), I’m talkin’ bout the sometimes totally sappy, sometimes completely rocking soundtrack features of the animated movies of the 80s. From cinematic features to TV specials, we’re gonna do a little rewind to some musical classics you might have forgotten starting with I Have the Power from He-man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword (1985). Courtesy dj4714tk

Heavy Metal courtesy 80slove Now, Heavy Metal, featuring John Candy contains mainly material we won’t be showing on Yello80s but I saw a nod to it on Tumblr the other day in the fabulous 80slove’s stream and knew I had to include it in tribute to the wonderful Canadian comedian I’ve watched in Uncle Buck waaaaaaaay too many times. A Canadian adult animated production, Heavy Metal consisted of several animated short stories from different animation studios wrapped up into one big romp of sex, guns and rock n roll. Anime fans of Satoshi Kon‘s Memories will get the format. Several styles of animation were used and the film featured an unbelievable amount of popular music from the time which also kept it from home release due to rights problems. In 2000, Heavy Metal 2000 was released and as recent as 2013 a remake of the original has been proposed. Repeat: not for children and we are only including this on the site as a tribute to the body of work John Candy left behind. Shorts in Heavy Metal included: Soft Landing
Grimaldi
Harry Canyon
Den
Captain Sternn
Neverwhere Land
B-17
So Beautiful and So Dangerous
Taarna
Epilogue

Desk Sargeant property behindthevoices.com

John Candy property bellazon.com

Candy played Desk Sargeant in Harry Canyon, Den in Den, and Robot in So Beautiful and So Dangerous. You’ll never guess who else shows up in the film- Canadian actress Jackie Borroughs as Katherine in Den. If that name doesn’t jump out and grab you let me clarify- she played Aunt Hetty on Road to Avonlea that US fans would have watched on the Disney Channel. I couldn’t find any clothed pictures of Katherine so you’ll just have to use your imagination but let’s just say the character is young, red haired and – naked, lol.Aunt Hetty by Jackie Bouroughs property rabble.ca